


Girl Meets a Variety of Secrets

by artsyspikedhair



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Asexual Character, F/F, Gen, LGBTQ Female Character, Queer History, Shawn Hunter (mentioned), Trans Character, Trans Male Character, snooping! Riley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-08
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-03 13:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4102086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artsyspikedhair/pseuds/artsyspikedhair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mr. Matthews is ending the sixties unit with some actual learning. Farkle mysteriously leaves class as it is beginning, leaving Maya and Riley to do some snooping, and maybe find out a little more about themselves along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The end of the sixties unit

It was right before history class, and the four friends Farkle, Maya, Riley and Lucas were waiting for class to start. They had left early from lunch.

"Hey Farkle, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure Lucas, although technically asking 'can I ask you a question' is a question, I'll allow another one."

"Why do you always wear turtlenecks?"

Farkle was not sure whether to lie or not, so he stalled.

"Umm, I wear turtlenecks because... because-"

Maya and Riley were huddled over a piece of paper, clearing failing at whatever they were trying to do. Maya, frustrated and noticing Farkle's nervous look as she lifted her head, called out: 

"Hey McBoingBoing, we need your help with something!"

Farkle sighed with relief as Lucas went over to help Maya and Riley fix Riley's math homework, which had gotten paint on it during art class the previous day. Lucas finally found a bottle of White-out when Mr. Matthews came in.

"Alright class, today we will be finishing our sixties unit with 1969. Can anybody tell me what happened in 1969? Yes Yogi."

"The Vietnam War ended."

"No, that was actually in 1975. Brenda?"

"Well... I forgot."

"Okay, Farkle do you know what happened in 1969?"

"ItwastheStonewallRiots, sir." Farkle spoke quietly yet fast, as if he was trying to ensure nobody heard him, which was unusual because he normally loved being the center of attention. Mr. Matthews knew why Farkle was doing this, and did not give anyone time to say they couldn't hear Farkle before starting his lesson.

"Indeed, it was the Stonewall Riots that sparked at the end of the sixties, man. The sixties was a dangerous time for people who were different, because it was still legal for police to beat people for breaking a law." Many students ' eyebrows raised at this, and one gasped. "The police were especially cruel to gay and trans people, because there were laws in place making it legal to arrest them for wearing certain clothes or showing affection."

Riley raised her hand at this, and Mr. Matthews called on her.

"What is a trans person?" she asked at the same time Farkle blurted out that he had to go to the bathroom.

"Farkle, you may go."

He ran out of the room before Mr. Matthews continued.

"A transgender person, or trans for short, is someone who sees themself as a different gender than the one society assigned them at birth." Riley still looked confused. Maya whispered something to her and she looked less confused. Billy then shouted without bothering to raise his hand.

"So they're the people who have sex changes?" Mr. Matthews reprimanded him for not raising his hand, then went on.

"Well, surgery is common now, yes. However, in 1969 very few people had access to medical procedures because of the cost..."

Class went on. Students learned about the horrible conditions gay and trans people had to live with, and Mr. Matthews promised next class they would learn about the riots themselves, and there might even be a field trip in the future. The only odd thing was...

"Farkle never came back." Riley said to Maya as they walked to health class.

"Maybe he had diarrhea?" Maya said, still thinking about what they had learned in history class. She was shocked about how horrible life was for gay people, and silently vowed to never let anyone beat her up or anyone else she cared about. She was slightly scared of how angry she was at the world. Normally it was Riley who wanted to fix everything.

"I hope not. He seemed he does, he'd be in the nurse's office. We should go check."

Riley and Maya checked the nurse's office, but Farkle was nowhere to be found. The two girls reluctantly went to Health class, and were relieved when Farkle showed up halfway through the video on drug abuse. Riley was convinced Farkle left for a reason, though she did not get the chance to ask him during school, because he was in the Advanced Math class while Riley was in the regular one. Riley walked home with Maya, who had been oddly quiet the whole day. Riley decided to ask her about it.

"Are you okay? You haven't called Lucas any names since history or yelled 'HA HURR!' at him at all today, and it is kind of worrying me."

"I'm fine, Riley. I'm just dealing with something."

"Is this about Josh? Because Maya, you can find someone so much better than him."

"It's not about Josh. I just... have cramps, that's all."

"You're lying."

"What makes you think that?"

"You can't have cramps, because having cramps means you're on your period and you would have told me if that happened."

"I don't tell you every time I'm on my period, I only tell you when you ask, ya weirdo."

"Oh. Right. Do you think something's wrong with Farkle? He never misses class like that."

"I don't know. Wait a minute, your dad knew about Lucas. What if he knows stuff about every kid in his class? Then we could find out all of Farkle's dirty little secrets!"

Riley pushed the button to let them into the apartment. She started to say something, but immediately stopped when she noticed Topanga in the room.

"I think he wou- Hey mom!"

"Hello Sweetie. Do you girls want a snack?"

"Yes please!" they both said, then grabbed snacks and headed to Riley's room.

"I think he would have the files in his office at school, but we should ask him what he knows about Farkle first." Riley finished her sentence, then started eating her Goldfish.

"Alright, we'll interrogate him during dinner." Maya had a smirk on her face, finally feeling normal after half a day of angry brooding. She was starting to wonder if maybe- no, she couldn't think about that. She talked to Riley to stop her thoughts, which were heading into dangerous territory. Before she knew it, they were laughing like nothing strange had happened at all that day.


	2. Dinner at the Matthews

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize if I characterize anyone wrong. I have never seen Boy Meets World, so Cory and Topanga might be a little too different for some of your likings. Also I am not sure what they sell at Svorski's so I'm using my creative license.

Time passed. Riley and Maya did their homework, though Riley had to threaten Maya into doing it (the threat was to tell Josh Maya's middle name was Penelope), and now planned their strategy for getting Cory to reveal whatever it was he knows.

"I think you should ask him."

"Whyyy?" Maya made a face in mock pain as payback for being coerced into doing her worst subject, math.

"Because if I suddenly develop an interest in Farkle, he'll go crazy. If you ask about Farkle, he'll be convinced it was his 'first date' idea that got you two hooked up and it will seem less suspicious."

"Not by much. He's are teacher, he knows I'm not in love with Farkle." Maya had secretly already resigned herself to the idea the minute Riley talked about that 'first date'. Maya knew having a fake crush was easier than trying to figure out her real crush, and definitely easier than trying to tell Cory Matthews about her real crush. She knew for a fact she did not have a crush on Josh. She only wanted to date him because he was a Matthews and she liked how he cared about his family. It also didn't hurt that he looked a lot like Riley, but Maya was not going there. She was Riley's best friend, and that was all she would ever be. As her inner monologue was going on, Riley was arguing that her dad would be so focused on having been a matchmaker he wouldn't notice the lack of chemistry. Maya just stared at her, than said "Fine, I'll ask him. But if it doesn't work out we're breaking into his files."

"Deal." The two girls shook hands, right as Topanga walked up to call them down for dinner.

"Girls! Time for dinner! Cory made mashed potatoes and steak."

They went to dinner. Riley had a plate three quarters full of mashed potatoes and only one small piece of steak. Cory always joked that she 'inherited his true love'. Maya on the other hand, had a piece of steak so large it filled up most of her plate. Auggie had pasta because he didn't like steak or mashed potatoes. Riley was talkative as usual, telling her mom and dad all about the drama of the school play she was planning on trying out for. Maya also was thinking of trying out, and said as much. Soon the dinner conversation had faded, and Auggie felt it was his job to bring it back.

"I drew a spider at school today and got a smiley face, which is the highest you can get!"

"That's great Auggie!" Cory said. Auggie then burped in an impolite fashion. Topanga chastised him. Maya stood up for him.

"He was just giving his compliments to the chef!"

"Well, I cooked his dinner, and I am not complimented by burping at dinner." Topanga was not happy.

"Sorry mom."

"So, it seems we're all done. Can I bring in dessert?" Riley asked sweetly knowing she would have to head out to Topanga's car to get the dessert. Topanga often brought dessert home from work now that she ran a cafe.

"Sure honey. I brought cake home. It's in the car. Here's the keys." Topanga threw the keys at Riley, who didn't even try to catch them and just picked them up from the floor. Riley then ran out of the house, in not all that different a fashion as Farkle ran out of class. Of course Maya used this as an opening.

"What is it with kids and running everywhere? First Farkle ran out of class and now Riley's running out of the house."

"Cake is Riley's favorite." Topanga explained, as if Maya didn't already know that. "Wait a minute, Farkle ran out of class! That's so unlike him!"

"I know, it was weird. It was right at the beginning too."

Cory is unsure what to say at this point. He never would have expected Maya to take an interest in Farkle's whereabouts. Riley he could explain this to, but Maya? He figured maybe she was developing a crush on him, but that also seemed out of character for her. He eventually just pretended to be clueless and said nothing.  
"Mr. Matthews, you knew about Lucas. Do you know anything about Farkle that might explain this weirdness?" Maya had an accusing tone of voice, as though she knew Cory knew.

"Nope, I know nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why would I know something? I'm just his history teacher." It was clear to Topanga Cory was lying, but she knew he had reasons for hiding something. She figured there were probably laws about sharing students' information.  


"Really? Because the fact that you didn't send someone to go out looking for him makes it seem like you know something."  


"Maya, I have twenty students in your class. I was not going to sacrifice your education to go looking for my greatest student. He has his reasons, and someone can give him notes." Topanga noticed Cory was getting into professional mode, and his lying was much less obvious. Even Maya was down to her last argument.  


"Yeah, but then why did you know top-secret information about Lucas?"  
"Because he was a transfer student who had disciplinary problems. I am obligated to know these things. And Maya, even I did know what was up with Farkle, I wouldn't tell you. He has a right to his privacy. How would you like it if someone started snooping around for your biggest secret?"  
Maya knew by then that he knew what Farkle's secret was, but she also knew she was not going to call him out on it. Meanwhile Auggie was still hungry.  


"I want caake!" He whined, just as Riley came in.  


"I come with cake!" she said cheerfully, putting the cake down. Auggie immediately took a slice that was much too big for his five year old stomach. Topanga took some back from his plate onto hers, knowing if she didn't he'd have a stomachache and bother her all night."Hey!" Auggie cried, but thankfully did not tantrum. He still had plenty of cake. Dessert went by smoothly,and soon Maya was thanking the Matthews for dinner and Getting up to walk home. Riley insisted on coming with, and her parents allowed it.  


The two girls planned their ways of getting into Mr. Matthews classroom when he wasn't there without getting caught. Surprisingly, Riley felt no guilt at all over their schemes while Maya did. She wondered what if they were caught? What if Mr. Matthews was telling the truth? She thought about what he said. Maya understood why one might keep a secret. She thought about this as Riley gave her a goodbye hug before leaving her to an empty apartment. Hugging Riley was like being enveloped in a world where nothing could hurt her. Yeah, Maya understood secrets.


	3. Secrets About People Change People As Well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maya swears when Riley isn't around to be a good influence (what fourteen year old rebel doesn't?), so you've been warned.

Maya showered and changed into her pajamas. Then she opened her mom's laptop, which was old and had a cracked screen from when a four-year-old Maya pushed it off the counter during a tantrum. Maya thought about her afternoon with Riley as she opened her emails. There was nothing but her subscription to the comedy website she never had time to read. Maya knew it was stupid to expect anything else. Shawn was in Montreal taking photos for his website, so she knew he probably wouldn't answer his emails for a couple days. She decided to email him in spite of, or perhaps because she knew she wouldn't have to deal with his reaction for a couple days.

_Hey Shawn,_

_It's Maya. I'm writing because I need to talk to someone and you seem like a not suckish option considering my mom isn't home. How's Montreal? Is it cold there? It is starting to get sunny here. Your best friend has decided to teach us some actual history instead of a corny life lesson for once. We're learning about this thing called the Stonewall Riots. He can explain it better than I can, but basically some asshole police were beating people up for the horrendous crimes of falling in love and wearing clothes. Falling in love with people of the same sex, I mean. Shit, I am not the best writer. Forgive me. And anyway, the lesson got me really angry and it scared me because ___

Maya stopped here and deleted the _because_. She thought about whether she should tell Shawn about what she had been thinking about since that dumb 'first date'. She wasn't afraid he would tell Cory because she knew she could trust Shawn (he had told her some of his secrets as well). She continued writing after a few minutes.  
_I want to tell you something, but you cannot talk about it with people in my life. Not Cory, not my mom, and especially not Riley. I think I might be one of those people who would have gotten beat up. I mean, I think I might be in love with Riley. In more interesting news, Riley has a plan that actually makes me feel guilty for once, which means I do have a conscience! Hope the universe cares about you, Maya Hart. ___  
After sending the email with shaking hands and a pounding heart, Maya went to bed and tried to sleep. It was a restless night for her, full of the possibility of regret.

The next day Maya and Riley walked to school as usual. Riley had decided the best way to sneak in was to have someone distract Cory for long enough to steal Farkle's file. Maya had a foggy idea of whom it should be.  
"Let's get Lucas as the distraction."  
"Why Lucas?" Riley hadn't hung out with Lucas in a while.  
"Well, he used to be a bad boy so he knows how to lie. But he's not stupid so he'll have a smart question that'll get your dad on a tangent, making this an easy operation." As usual, Maya's trouble making mind could work well even on only a few hours of sleep. She was willing to do whatever Riley wanted at this point.  
"Okay, we can get him in on the plan. "  
Riley decided she would track Lucas down and talk to him. After all, this was her plan and she knew Lucas better than Maya did anyway. Lucas was in her math class, which was first period. Maya had science first period, so Riley was on her own with this. When she and Maya parted ways, she ran into the class. She sat next to Lucas, and immediately started talking. 

"Lucas, we're friends, right?"  
"Yeah..." Lucas had no idea where this conversation was headed.  
"And friends do things for each other? Like stuff other people wouldn't normally do?"  
"Yeah, but, Riley, I'm not doing anything illegal. So if Maya has some scheme to murder Billy's dog, I want no part in it."  
"Lucas, Maya doesn't even know he has a dog. I didn't even know he has a dog. And I would never make you something illegal."  
"Yeah, well after you hosed me into admitting my secret, I don't know what you're capable of. So what do you want me to do?"  
"Distract my dad after class with some question that will have a long answer."  
"Why?"  
At that very moment the math teacher came in and the conversation was cut short. Miss Hobbs was a very strict teacher, and woe behold to any who talk of matters other than math in her classroom. Riley and Lucas sit in the back of the class, so Riley wrote to Lucas.  
_I plan on finding out a secret using the files my dad has on all his students. ___  
**what kind of secret? ******  
_Idk, that's what I'll find out_

 **I have a secret ******  
_what is it? ___  
**I'm an alien. ******Lucas had chickened out at last minute. He had no idea how to tell Riley what has been on his mind. She would probably be hurt by it anyway, he reasoned, knowing fully well Riley Matthews would never let him get away with having another flaw to destroy his perfect boy image.  
_No, really, do you have a secret? ___  
**yeah but I have math to do ******  
Lucas then appeared to be engrossed in his math worksheet for the rest of the class.  
Nothing of note happened for the rest of the day. Farkle missed history class, and apparently he was out sick. Riley didn't believe this for one second though, because he had seemed completely calm in Health the day before and when Farkle is sick he is a nuisance to everyone around him, making loud moans of pain and being very dramatic in stating when he might have to puke, if he isn't unconscious. A sick Farkle is a performing Farkle, much worse than when he's healthy.  
Mr. Matthews taught the class about how the Mafia ran gay bars, and what happened when the police raided the Stonewall Inn. The drag queens fought back, he explained. The police were barricaded inside the bar after they had evacuated it to arrest everyone. People threw things. This was the kind of class everyone loved, and the kind of class Farkle would be teaching. It crossed Maya's mind that maybe Mr. Matthews made Farkle stay home just so he could teach this class, because it was clear on his face that this was the reason Cory loved teaching. He loved seeing people react to history, see the kids engaged in what he was telling them. He assigned a worksheet for homework. Soon the bell rang and every kid left but Riley, Maya, and Lucas. Lucas walked up to his teacher and told him he hadn't got a copy of the homework, when in actuality he had sneaked his copy into Zay's backpack just so he wouldn't have a copy. Mr. Matthews said he was all out of copies and would have to print out another one in the library. Lucas followed him out, asking questions about what exactly had been thrown as he left.  
"See, I told you he was perfect for this." Maya gloated as she grabbed a paperclip from her backpack  
"Yeah, you were right. Now pick the lock, and hurry!"  
"Wow Riley, never thought I'd hear you say that," Maya said while picking open the lock on the cabinet. "Guess I really am a bad influence."  
Riley picked through the files until she found the one marked _Minkus, Farkle ___She hurriedly picked it up, ensuring no papers would fall out, and put it in her backpack. She then ran outside, so when Cory came back she would be nowhere to be found. Maya, on the other hand, lingered a bit. She closed the cabinet, opened it again and took out a file marked _Hart, Maya ___


	4. Secrets Have Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas and Cory talk about stuff, while Maya and Riley find out secrets about Farkle.

Lucas and Cory Matthews were alone in the school library. It was the first time they had been alone since Lucas's first day when Mr. Matthews had pulled him out of the cafeteria and warned him about how he would not be allowed to get away with fighting or dating Mr. Matthews' daughter. Lucas was terrified back then, but now he was a year older and knew Mr. Matthews better. Mr. Matthews was printing out a copy of Lucas's homework when Lucas decided to ask him a question. It was a question everyone refused to answer when he asked back in Texas, and since Mr. Matthews seemed okay with gay people Lucas figured he wouldn't get laughed at like he was when he asked his health teacher back in Texas.  
"Hey Mr. Matthews, you know a lot about stuff." Lucas started, not at all eloquent.  
"Yeah, I am a teacher after all. What do you want to know, Lucas?"  
"Is there a word for someone who isn't gay but isn't straight?" Lucas knew he asked it wrong, and his teacher might not know what he was talking about.  
"Someone who likes multiple genders is called a bisexual."  
"No, I meant someone who likes no one. Like someone who has never had a crush on anyone, and doesn't like kissing people and finds the whole thing weird. Is there a word for someone like that?" Lucas was afraid he said too much. He just knew that he didn't feel anything during his kiss with Riley and he had never had a crush and back in Texas everyone had begun having crushes and when he told people he didn't they thought he was lying.  
"I think those people are called asexual. I don't know for sure though. Look it up online if you want a better answer. Here's your homework. I made another copy so you could give it to Farkle if you see him. I gotta go." Mr. Matthews handed Lucas his worksheet and left the library. He knew he should have probably been more polite to his student, but he had a long day ahead of him. There was standardized testing to prepare and homework from his eighth grade classes to correct. Life is hard for a middle school teacher.

Lucas thought to himself as he left the library and began walking to Farkle's house. Asexual was a nice word, he thought. He figured when people back from Texas asked why he wasn't dating anyone, he could tell them the truth now. He was an asexual. He laughed at the repetitiveness of his thoughts as he walked home. He was unsure where Farkle lived because Farkle always came over to his house, so he decided to give Farkle the homework when he's back at school. 

Meanwhile, Riley and Maya were walking from school as well. They were walking to Maya's apartment, because they were afraid if they went to Riley's they'd get caught or be forced to lie or something. Maya felt guilty and scared because she was thinking about how by taking her file she would be the prime suspect. Nobody ever expects Riley to be the bad influence, and Maya was not going to throw her best friend under a bus. She also wasn't sure what secrets could be found in either file, both hers and Farkle's. What if she's actually failing history class? Soon they were at Maya's place and she decided to say something to break the silence that they'd been in since leaving school. 

"I feel kind of bad." Maya admitted, not looking at Riley. 

"Yeah, I feel kind of guilty too, but we already stole the file. It wouldn't be worth it unless we looked." 

"I kind of stole my own file too." Riley reassured Maya she wasn't mad, and surprisingly Riley actually wanted to get caught. she said it wouldn't feel right unless they were punished afterwards. Besides, they were doing this together, so if Maya wants to know her history so bad, she deserved it. 

"Thanks for not hating me." 

"Maya, I could never hate you. I love you." 

"So let's open these files." Maya did not want to think about the surge of hope that went up in her chest. She did not want to think about it, so she opened her backpack and handed Farkle's file to the brunette. 

"Riley, these aren't the secrets of life."

"I know but now that I have the file in my hand I'm scared of what I might learn. I mean if Lucas had a dark and troubled past, who knows what Farkle's file might hold?" 

"Fine, I'll open it. Chump." Maya opened the file. Inside was a current picture of Farkle, as well as what looked like about a hundred sheets of paper. Maya read the first one, which was topped with the following words: _Formerly known as Fiona Minkus ___

Below that the paper explained that inside of this file was the IEP of Farkle Minkus, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, also known as Asperger's Syndrome. Maya looked over at Riley after reading, afraid of what else might be in this file.  
"Well?" Riley was anxious to know what was making Maya so shocked.  
"Farkle Minkus certainly has some secrets." Maya replied.


	5. You Freakish Old Matthews!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley feels guilt, Maya comforts her. Maya feels rage, and then says some stuff she shouldn't have.

Riley read the first page of the file, and immediately was overwhelmed with guilt. What had she been thinking, breaching both Farkle's and her father's privacy like that? She was certain Farkle had reasons for changing his name, reasons she had nothing to do with. She thought she had a right to know whatever she wanted, and now that thought seemed extremely selfish.She closed the file and began crying while explaining her thoughts to Maya, who had felt like that all along. Maya tried comforting her, explaining that Riley can't undo what she did and no amount of guilt will make what she now knows any less real. Maya said if Riley felt so bad about this, she should tell her father. Maya knew detention always kept her feelings of guilt at bay, so maybe it would work for Riley.  
"Regardless, there is little to beat yourself up over now. We haven't even read the entire file. This is the same amount of knowledge we could have gotten from a lookthrough the window while your father was writing up a discipline slip or something. Besides, you feel bad about it, which means you aren't all that selfish because your feelings aren't all about what might happen to you, they're about you hurting someone else. You feel bad about it, which makes you you, the unselfish honest Riley I've always known. You just had a temporary lapse in judgement, that's all." Maya's words of comfort had their intended effect. Riley stopped crying with a final sniff.  


"How do you always know how make me feel better? You're like my mom in that way." Riley now asked playfully, her guilt gone for the moment.  
"Well, maybe she's rubbed off on me. All that time in your house must have had some good influence on me."  
"Yeah, that must be it. After all, every bad influence needs a good influence."  
"You know, maybe I'm not as bad of an influence as I thought, pumpkin. I mean you've had some pretty bad schemes of your own, such as _tying me up on my birthday! _ __And I, well I can be good sometimes." .  
"Yeah, you're not all that bad." __

After some more witty banter, the two girls decide to go over to Riley's house and confess to their crime. Mr. Matthews had decided to work from home after being kicked out of his office by Janitor Harley, who needed to clean the classroom earlier than usual in anticipation for the Superintendent's visit the following Monday. Riley walks into the room first, while Maya stays in the hallway,  
discreetly reading her file.  
"Dad?" Riley said, feeling nervous. Stealing the file was the worst thing she had done in a long time, and she was unsure what her punishment would be.  
"Right here. I see you're back from Maya's."  
"Dad I did something wrong." Riley seemed so childlike when she said this, as though she was still a six year old who had stolen a candy from her mother's purse.  
"I know." Cory had noticed when I went to look for Billy's file, to record his latest report card (all C's and B's).  
Riley was slightly taken aback by this, but continued her confession anyway.  
"I stole Farkle's file to see if I could find out what it was that made him miss class."  
"I know, Riley."  
"What are you going to do about it?"  
"I will do nothing" Cory said, leaving Riley both disappointed and relieved until he continued. "but you will confront Farkle and tell him what you did, or else I will ensure you never see Maya again." Cory know this left Riley with no real choice. She would never give up Maya, and therefore was going to confess to Farkle. Riley, however, knew her dad had no real way of making good on that threat, but was going to confess to Farkle regardless.

Maya came in, shouting at Mr. Matthews. "You said I have great potential and will probably gain more motivation once WHAT happens?!"  
"You've read too much." Mr. Matthews replied, taking her file away from her.  
Riley now had her old curiosity back. "What does it say?" she asked, half whining.  
"Your father thinks me and Farkle are going to end up dating!" Maya shouts with surprising venom. Now Riley is equally pissed off at Cory.  
"You guess the future dating lives of my friends in what should be files on our educational lives!"  
"It's a hobby of mine. And you two have no right to complain, considering it is your fault you're even aware of my personal files."  
"Well, it is not going to happen, you freakish old man. The only person I'm going to end up dating is your daughter!" Maya shouted before she realized what she said. She ran out of the apartment, mortified and terrified and feeling like an utter loser.


	6. Farkle Tries To Act Normal For Once

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything it says on the tin.

Farkle woke up to his parents arguing again. He faked being sick yesterday, but luckily his mother was extremely forgetful and would likely be too busy screaming at his father to notice if he slipped out of the house. As he sneaked into the kitchen to grab his wallet, he overheard his name. Well, not his name, but the only name his mother called him (if she wasn't calling him 'that useless little nothing'). Farkle knew enough to get out of that house before the rings started getting thrown. As soon as he was on the sidewalk, he sighed. He wasn't sure what exactly he was being accused of, but knowing his mother it was either being 'an abomination, always flaunting her homosexual lifestyle' or 'nothing more than a leech who just can't seem to leave me alone!' Farkle wasn't sure which he hated more. He just wanted to be back with his friends for the weekend and hopefully back at school once he found out whether the history lesson was over or not. It wasn't that he didn't like this specific history lesson, because when he learned it the first time he did. It was just that the first time he learned about it was at recess in the library during fifth grade, when nobody was friends with him. If he learned it in a classroom, people could see his reactions and wonder how he knew so much about this. People could put two and two together because this wasn't the type of thing a typical nerd would know, even a history nerd. Most schools didn't teach about the Stonewall Riots until college, and Farkle was more afraid of being discovered for this than he was about anything else in his life.

While he was mulling over his problems in life, his feet natural walked him over to his favorite place in town: _Topanga's_. He loved the food they had there, and he was certain that even if his friends weren't there, someone interesting would be. As he walked in, he noticed Lucas sitting on one of the chairs in the middle of the restaurant, reading something he had printed from online. Farkle went to the cashier and bought a cookie from Katy. He did not recognize her. He then sat in the other chair in the middle of the restaurant. 

"Hey." Farkle said to Lucas, who had been absorbed in an article about these new identities he had just discovered existed.  
"Hey. What's up?" Lucas was surprised to see Farkle, because he figured Farkle would have to be dead or something in order to have missed school.  
"I was sick yesterday but I'm better now."  
"Oh, that's good."  
"Yeah, it is. What are you reading?" Farkle was determined to change the topic so he wouldn't have to lie anymore, considering how bad he supposedly was at acting.  
Lucas was unsure whether to tell him at first, but- well, it's Farkle. He couldn't hide big stuff from his best friend, so he told him. "I'm reading about what it means to be aromantic." he said. He had realized as he was reading that aromantic might be the perfect word to describe him.  
"So what it means to smell good?" Farkle said confused, thinking Lucas had said aromatic.  
"No, what it means to not feel romantic feelings toward someone. Like if you weren't in love with Riley and Maya or anyone at all."  
"Farkle not in love with Riley or Maya? UNTHINKABLE!" Farkle shouted with his usual grandeur back.  
"Well, good for you buddy."  
Farkle thought about this for a second as he also speculated whether the brown liquid in Lucas's cup was coffee or hot chocolate. "So..." He said, unsure of whether to ask but plowing ahead anyway. "Are you aromantic?" Lucas nodded.  
"I'm also asexual." He admitted this after a few seconds of silence.  
"Oh. I'm I-don't-know-what-I-am-sexual." Farkle replied.

Suddenly Maya walked in. She plopped into a chair without ordering anything, and looked like she had gotten no sleep the night before. Farkle decided not mention this and merely said "Hi Maya."  
Maya did not reply or seem to have heard, but instead said to the whole room "I'm a mess, I tell you."  
Lucas was curious. "What happened?"  
"Oh, nothing. One of my friends has been lying to me his whole life, my teacher ships me with said liar, and Riley hates me. But I'm fine, I tell you. Just fine."  
Farkle smelt a fine bout of sarcasm, and said to Lucas. "I don't believe her."  
Maya noticed him for the first time. "You!" she said loud enough for some of the other patrons to stare at her. Farkle was frightened and unsure why she was accusing him although he had a slight suspicion. Still, he played innocent. "Moi?" He asked, pointing at himself.  
"Yes you, Farkle. Or should I say, Fiona? You're the good for nothing liar around here." Maya felt awful the moment she said it, but what else was new? Her best friend was gone and it was all her fault. She hated herself and now someone had to pay. It was all Farkle's fault anyway, Maya thought.  
"I don't know what you are talking about." Farkle said, but even he didn't believe himself. His worst fear just came true and he was shocked. How did she know? he thought. Then the paranoid part of his brain kicked in and he wondered who told her. Or maybe it was something too feminine he did, that made her look up the name Minkus and figure him out. Farkle was simply terrified and not thinking straight.  
Lucas asked "What's going on?" and Farkle ran out of _Topanga's_ with a half eaten cookie in his hand.


	7. What To Do Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucas was torn between two friends who are both suffering.

Lucas wasn't sure what he was still doing there, sitting drinking his hot chocolate as if nothing had happened. To be honest, he wasn't sure exactly what happened. His best friend had just ran out of the restaurant as if someone had found out his worst secret. Lucas thought he should be following Farkle, trying to help him. Lucas knew how being called names could hurt someone, especially someone as delicate as Farkle. Maya knew that too, Lucas thought. The boy was berating himself in his head, but at the same time someone had to be there for Maya. Someone had to be there for the girl that was clearly lashing out because she was going through deep emotional turmoil. Lucas figured he would try to help Maya deal with whatever had her in this state, and then see how Farkle was dealing later. He put his cup down and asked again "What is going on? Why does Riley hate you?"  


Maya was not in the mood to talk about this. She had come over to forget about her idiotic outburst by drowning her sorrows in food and locking Riley in the dungeon of sadness. She went up to the counter and bought a 'muffin' from Topanga, who asked if she was okay. Maya sighed and said she was fine, then walked over to where she and Lucas were sitting. She decided hostility would be the best way to get him of her back, and replied "It's none of your business what mistakes I've made, Huckleberry."  


Maya had forgotten what a stubborn brat Lucas could be. "Maya, something has obviously changed. You've begun calling Farkle names instead of me, and the name you called made him run out of here like there was an army of baseball players throwing balls of rocks at him. You like Farkle, you almost married him that one time. What happened?"  
"What happened is Riley had this great idea to steal Farkle's file, which you already know about, and then I stole my own file and there was some really stupid stuff in there and I said something I shouldn't have and goddammit why can't I just be normal like you?" Maya clearly wasn't as fine as she said she was. Topanga had overheard this and was now listening with great interest.  
"You think I'm normal?" Lucas shouldn't have been surprised, but he was. It always shocked him a small bit when people thought he was normal, because for the longest time he was the guy who was always getting into fights and in Texas that wasn't all that normal.  
Maya however, measured normal in a different way. "Well you're tall and have a family that isn't screwed up and you like people you're allowed to like. You got to ask for permission to ask out a girl you liked while I was stuck giving 84% for a boy that somehow everyone thinks I should be with even though all I wanted was to get to someday be able to date the girl I actually like. Love, I mean. You're normal, Lucas. I'm the broken one here. No wonder Riley doesn't love me." She whispered the last sentence, more to herself than to Lucas.  
"You're not broken Maya." Lucas has figured out enough at this point. "And I may have a put-together family, but I'm not normal. I don't like people I'm allowed to like, at least not the way you say I do. I only asked Riley out because I knew she wanted me to, and I know that makes me an awful person but you're better than me. You tell people what you feel and you have a reason to hope Maya, even if you don't have it right now. I've seen the way Riley looks at you, and I'm not saying that means she feels the same way for you that you do for her, but that is love, Maya. And Riley never gives up on people she loves, even if you did do something stupid. I'm a testament to that."  
"So what do I do now then?" Maya asked, considering the advice Lucas had given so far seemed true and was comforting.  
"Now you wait until she comes looking for you. If she doesn't, then you crawl in through her window and try explaining yourself once you've stopped feeling sorry for yourself and lashing out at others. Riley would hate what you did to Farkle, even if you felt awful."  
"Okay, I'll talk to him on Monday." Maya promised, and then realized she hadn't done her history homework. She left the bakery without saying goodbye, just running out. Lucas didn't mind. He just hoped his friends got themselves back together soon. Angst was good for nobody, he thought as his attention turned back to his article.


	8. Where Farkle Goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Farkle needed someone to give him advice, and he got it from one of the greatest people knew.

Farkle was running. He knew where he was going, even though he had only been there a handful of times before. He wasn't sure how Maya had found out about him, or whether she would tell Lucas, or what he should do, but he knew Cory Matthews could help him. 

_Cory Matthews had always helped him, ever since Farkle's first day John Quincy Adams middle school. Farkle can still remember that day. Farkle was terrified and had ran to every classroom on his schedule explaining that his name was actually Farkle and he was a boy so whatever was on the attendance sheet was wrong. He ran to his History class last, because he liked doing things in order and History was the last class he would have to actually take that day. The school day hadn't actually started yet because Farkle made sure he had time to do all this explaining by showing up an hour early and begging Janitor Harley to let him in. Farkle was still terrified because some of his teachers had looked at him like he was crazy and said they wouldn't change anything without a parent's permission and Farkle did not want history, his favorite class, to be like that. So he wandered in, sweaty and wide-eyed, to the classroom where Mr. Matthews was preparing for his first day of school as well._  
_"Mr. Matthews?" Farkle said, still catching his breath. He wanted to make sure this was the right class, because 8:00 was soon approaching and nothing was worse than being in the wrong classroom for your first class at a new school._  
_"Yeah, that's me." Mr. Matthews replied, having expected one of his eighth graders having come in early and not a sixth grader. "Who are you?" ___  
_Here goes nothing, Farkle thought. "I'm Farkle Minkus, although your attendance sheet might say something different. I have you last period, but I wanted to make sure I introduced myself before everyone else because it is sort of embarrassing, but... um, I'm a boy, but the school thinks I'm a girl because of reasons, and I don't want people thinking that I'm a girl, so please don't call me Miss Minkus or anything like that." Farkle was unsure if he had to say anything else, so he left it at that. Mr. Matthews appeared to be processing this fast-spoken outburst of information. He had a few kids like Farkle before, but they always showed up with parents, speaking with the principal, not individual teachers. He decided the best thing to do would be to respect the child's wishes, and later speak to the higher officials about this kid. ___  
_"Yeah, okay. I'll just call you Farkle, is that okay with you?" Mr. Matthews asked this gently. ___  
_"Yes sir! That would be great!"_  
_"And I can inform the other teachers if you like. There may be some people with outdated opinions, but there are laws and if anyone hassles you, you can come straight to me. Okay?"_  
_Farkle was excited now. "Okay! I got to get to math class now. See you in 4 hours and 26 minutes!" ___

Farkle thought about that first day as he slowed down and walked to the Matthews' apartment. While this wasn't exactly a hassle, Farkle wanted an outside opinion on what he should do. He buzzed the door, and Auggie answered.  
"If you want Riley, she's in her room." he said, smiling. Auggie loved when Riley's friends came over.  
"I'm actually here to see your father." Farkle replied.  
"Oh, he's in the office. It's the first room in the hallway." Auggie pointed to the hallway as he said it.  
"Okay, thank you." Farkle walked down through the living room to the hallway, where he knocked on the office door.  


Mr. Matthews was busy making a test for the following Monday when he heard the knock on his door. His eighth grade class had NAEP during his block, so he had a lot less work than usual, but his sixth graders were studying the revolution and he had to make sure they knew the material before going on to the next subject. Not to mention he had homework from his seventh grade classes to correct. Still, he called out "Come in!", assuming it was Auggie who needed something. Riley hadn't left her room all day, and Mr. Matthews planned on cheering her up later.  


Imagine his surprise when it was Farkle who came in, asking if this was an okay time. It really wasn't, but Cory always tried to make time for his students. "What do you need?" he asked while typing out 'what did the British tax in 1763?' on his laptop.  
"Maya found out what my birth name was and I'm pretty sure she'll tell Lucas I'm trans. What should I do?"  
"Farkle, do you remember my lesson on the truth? What did I say then?"  
"The truth always has a way of coming out. So you think I should tell people, even if they'll think I'm even more of a freak because of it?"  
"Farkle, you are one of the most creative kids I know. If anyone is a freak, it would be the people who can't see how smart and talented you are. Your friends like you for you, and no name could change that. Look, if you don't feel like telling them anything more than Maya already did, that's fine. It's your choice. But you're the only one who knows your truth." "Okay, I'll explain myself then. I'll go talk to Riley now" "Wait. Farkle?" "Yes sir?" "Don't hate Maya. She's going through a rough time." "I know sir. I won't." 


	9. Riley and Farkle Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it says on the tin.

Farkle walked over to Riley's room and knocked on the door. Riley knew it wasn't any of her family and she figured maybe it was Uncle Shawn, so she yelled for him to come in. She was sitting on her bed and had a couple pictures on it of her and Maya, which Farkle immediately noticed as he walked in. He wondered what had happened that left Maya a torn up mess and Riley, a normally well-rested kid, looking like she hadn't slept at all the previous night. Riley was not looking up, and was surprised by Farkle's entrance. 

"Farkle?"  
"Yep, it's me. You're looking fine today, as always." Farkle wasn't sure why he said this. It was clearly a lie, and Riley responded at once.  
"Well that's great, because I feel like I've been hit by a bowling ball."  
"Why? What happened?"  
"I did something stupid. Actually, you'll probably hate me for this, but I started snooping and found a file on you. I felt awful immediately after I read it, but I know that does nothing to excuse my awfulness in trying to find out stuff in the first place."  
Farkle had no idea what would be in the file, and responded the way he always did when he was in a strangely happy mood. "Farkle does not think finding out stuff is awful. Farkle loves learning. What did you find out about me?" he asked, suddenly breaking the third person.  
"You have something called Asperger's. I looked it up and it explained a lot about you actually." Riley was thrilled Farkle wasn't mad. Maybe he could help her figure out what to do about Maya. "What it'd explain?" Farkle was anxious to know, because he didn't know anything about Asperger's. He didn't even know he had it, whatever it was. "Why you like history so much. It's called a 'special interest' according to the internet."  
"Cool. So was there anything else in this file?" Farkle asked this, wondering if maybe Maya had discovered his old name from this file or something. 

"Yeah, it had a bunch of papers I didn't read, and also it said you had another name before." Farkle visibly deflated when Riley said this, causing her to add "I'm sorry I read it."  
"It's fine." Farkle could not afford losing his friends over this, even though it wasn't really fine. He just hoped Maya didn't actually hate him as much as she seemed to.

"So did something happen to you and Maya? Because she was a mess today. And she was mean too, which she's almost never been."  
"Yeah... Maya sort of said she wanted to date me and I have no idea what to do now."  
"Well do you want to date her?"  
"I don't know! That's the problem, because she's only ever been my best friend and I've never liked a girl before but sometimes when we were together she'd look so pretty I'd sort of want to kiss her or something but I don't want to lose her or hurt her if it turns out I'm not in love with her because she would never be as cool as Lucas was about it and I don't know what to do!" Riley said all this rambling and afterward crashed onto her bed. Farkle thought for a few minutes before lifting Riley's head and saying what he thought would be helpful.  
"You are never as happy without her. I notice this, and if the two of you dated you would probably be happy for a while. Maybe not forever, but nobody can be happiness _forever ___. I mean, you said it yourself you've wanted to kiss her. I don't know if you should date or not, because I'm not you and I've never dated, but the one thing I do know is you two love each other. And if you think Maya could be okay with being friends with you and just that, then do what you want. But Riley, friendships like what the two of you have are almost impossible to find. Whatever you choose, you should try as hard as you can to keep her in your life. You need each other."

"I'll think I could try dating her. I mean, we've been friends for our entire lives just about. We could survive anything probably. But why are you so cool about this? Didn't you want us to bear your eleven children?"  
"I can't rule the world if I don't have happy followers. And you're the first followers of Farkle Nation, so I try to do right by you."  
"Thanks Farkle."  
"You're welcome. Good luck and goodbye." He climbed out of her window, the conversation clearly over.


	10. A Romance Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley calls Maya and confesses her feelings.

After Farkle left, Riley sat up and took her phone out of her pocket. She knew what she was going to do, what she knew was the right thing to do, but it still scared her. She pressed the number to speed dial Maya but got her voicemail saying "Hey. It's Maya! I am clearly too busy to talk to you right now so you should call later or try the home phone." Riley tried the home phone next. 

"Hello?"

"Hi Riley!" said Katy, who was already off from work. "Do you want to talk to me or Maya?"

"Maya." said Riley, though she considered getting some advice from Katy beforehand. Then she realized taking advice from a lady who dated a guy named Kermit was not the smartest move. She could hear Katy calling Maya to the phone, and silently prayed she wouldn't mention Riley was calling. Maya hated dealing with people once she had done something wrong by them.

"Hello?" Maya asked unsure why anyone would be calling at four in the afternoon on a Saturday. She had gone straight home after talking to Lucas at _Topanga's _ __and worked on some drawings of raining city streets for most of the afternoon.__

"Maya, I thought about it and I think I want to date you too."

"Riley, if you think you can just call me up and ask me out on a pity date, you're wrong. I don't want you to lie to me. If you want to just be friends, I can handle it. I always have." Maya couldn't allow herself to hope for this. Hope was for suckers, and Riley was straight. Those were the only two things she knew for certain.

Riley was not expecting this, though she should have. She and Maya were both insecure, and it was only normal Maya would be surprised and suspicious of Riley's sudden realization. Riley was surprised herself by what talking to Farkle had revealed. She knew instinctively what to say though. It was her talent. "No, peaches, no. I would never pity you. It's just that we've been friends so long that I figured with time the urge suddenly smash our faces together so our lips would meet would end in time, but it didn't. Half the time I was dating Lucas I kept on thinking about how much more comfortable it would be if I were holding your hand instead. I love you Maya, and I want to date you because of that, not in some misguided attempt to save our friendship."

Maya was still a little shocked. "You want to smash our faces together?" she said, half-laughing.

"Okay, so that's not the most romantic way to describe kissing, but I'm new at this, okay?"

"Okay. It would be a pleasure to smash faces with you until our lips meet. Tomorrow?" She asked, already planning the perfect first date.

"Tomorrow!" Riley agreed excitedly.


End file.
